ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – COVID-19 testing officials at the Orange County Convention Center said they’re confident they have enough tests to last through Sunday and they’ve requested the supplies needed to continue testing beyond then.
The announcement on Tuesday comes after Mayor Jerry Demings said he expects the county could see more than 1,000 positive cases of the novel coronavirus by the end of the week.
“We’re going to do what we need to do to help this community and that’s our priority,” said Lauren Luna, a spokeswoman for the testing site.
[RELATED: Orange County COVID-19 testing site changes test criteria including age limit]
With 303 completed before closing time, the testing site issued more tests than usual Tuesday because of new state tests they received late Monday, but beginning Wednesday, they’ll once again only be giving 250 tests per day.
“We have an order in place. We are waiting to see if that gets fulfilled,” Luna said.
The Orange County Convention Center testing site used the last of its 78 federal tests Tuesday. Those were naval swab tests. Now they’re relying on tests they’ve received from state emergency teams, which require a throat swab.
“We definitely have enough state supply tests to last us through Sunday, and beyond that, we get deliveries almost all hours of the day,” Luna said.
Luna said she hopes to see testing at the site continue beyond Sunday.
“We are confident here that our needs will be met,” Luna said. “We’re confident that the state and the federal government understand the needs of this community.”
Since operations began on March 25, medical professionals at the Orange County Convention Center drive-thru coronavirus testing site have collected thousands of samples from patients fearing they could be suffering from COVID-19.
Medical personnel at the site had to stop accepting new patients hours or even minutes after opening several days last week because the demand was so high.
Free testing is offered without an appointment every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but patients must be a first responder or health care worker, or meet the criteria outlined by the testing site.
Testing officials said the state and federal tests both take 7-8 days to get results.
Other testing sites throughout Florida can be found here.
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